Sitting beside Liu Muye, Nangong Ye watched the scene unfold and, for once, cracked a smile.
Liu Muye turned to him and asked, "What are you laughing at?"
Nangong Ye lowered his voice and replied, "Don’t you think Han Juyou is lively, adorable, and full of quirky charm? She’s really interesting."
"Are you out of your mind?" Liu Muye shot a furtive glance at Han Juyou, who was absorbed in her book, then leaned closer to Nangong Ye and whispered, "Listen, that ‘lively and adorable’ act is just a front. She’s got a terrible temper, she’s scheming, petty, and holds grudges. You don’t stand a chance with a girl like that. You absolutely cannot fall for her, got it?"
"Huh?" Nangong Ye scratched his head, puzzled. "I do think she’s interesting, but that doesn’t mean I like her. Besides, why are you so worked up? After spending time with her these past few days, Han Juyou isn’t nearly as bad as you’re making her out to be."
"Uh…" Liu Muye gritted his teeth. "Just promise me you won’t like her, okay?"
Seeing Liu Muye’s intense reaction, Nangong Ye thought to himself:
Every time I mention Han Juyou, Liu Muye gets all fired up. Could it be… he likes her?
Yeah, that’s probably it.
As Liu Muye’s good bro (because guys’ friendships form in the weirdest ways), Nangong Ye decided right then and there: I’ve got to help him out!
With that realization, Nangong Ye’s eyes lit up, and he gave a thumbs-up. "Got it!"
"Good." Liu Muye patted Nangong Ye’s shoulder in relief.
Nangong Ye met Liu Muye’s gaze with determination, silently vowing: Don’t worry, bro. I’ll make sure you win Han Juyou’s heart!
The two of them chatted with their arms slung over each other’s shoulders, completely oblivious to how it might look. But Shangguan Yurou, sitting behind them, misinterpreted the whole scene.
She saw the way Nangong Ye was gazing "longingly" at Liu Muye, and her pupils trembled as if she’d stumbled upon some earth-shattering secret—Does Nangong Ye have feelings for Liu Muye?
The moment the thought crossed her mind, Shangguan Yurou clapped a hand over her mouth in shock. Suddenly, everything made sense: why Nangong Ye always seemed indifferent when talking to her, why he avoided eye contact.
Is it because he’s not into girls?
In reality, Nangong Ye did have a crush on Shangguan Yurou but was too shy to show it, so he played it cool during their conversations.
But thanks to Shangguan Yurou’s overactive imagination, the situation had taken a wild turn.
And when Liu Muye had helped Nangong Ye back earlier, saying, "He’s actually in great shape too," Shangguan Yurou became even more convinced—Their relationship is definitely not normal.
Meanwhile, Han Juyou wasn’t actually working on her math problems. Instead, she absentmindedly doodled character relationship charts for her novel on scratch paper.
Every now and then, she’d recall Liu Muye’s resolute words to her:
"You can pay me back after you become a famous writer and earn royalties."
She stole a glance at Liu Muye’s back as he sat in front of her, and before she knew it, a smile tugged at her lips.
To summarize the current mess:
- Liu Muye, hearing Nangong Ye praise Han Juyou, assumed he’d been fooled by her charming facade, just like in the original plot.
- Nangong Ye, seeing how much Liu Muye cared about Han Juyou, mistakenly believed Liu Muye had a crush on her and vowed to play wingman.
- Shangguan Yurou, witnessing the two guys being all buddy-buddy, jumped to the conclusion that Nangong Ye was into Liu Muye.
- As for Han Juyou? She was already nursing a quiet crush on Liu Muye.
And just like that, the plot had spiraled into chaos.
Yet Liu Muye, the unwitting instigator of it all, remained blissfully unaware.
---
After surviving the afternoon’s math class, Liu Muye exhaled deeply, feeling like he’d been reborn the moment he stepped out of the classroom.
If I’d known the math in finance would be this hard, he thought, I should’ve switched to Chinese literature during freshman orientation. That way, the original plot wouldn’t have derailed, and I could’ve enjoyed being a carefree rich kid.
Instead, here he was—no longer living the cushy life, constantly worrying about the story’s trajectory (though he didn’t yet realize it had already gone off the rails).
Growl—
His stomach betrayed him with an audible protest.
Shaking his head, Liu Muye muttered, "Whatever. Food first, overthinking later."
He lingered by the classroom door, waiting for Han Juyou to pack up her bag so they could head to the cafeteria together.
Girls took their time gathering their things, so Han Juyou and Shangguan Yurou were among the last to leave.
"Yurou, I’ll catch up with you later. I’m eating with Liu Muye today," Han Juyou said.
She’d already explained the shared meal card situation to Shangguan Yurou at lunch, so no further details were needed.
"Okay," Shangguan Yurou nodded.
The moment the two walked off, Nangong Ye approached and said softly, "I’d like to try the cafeteria food, but I don’t have a meal card. Could you swipe yours for me?"
"Huh?" Shangguan Yurou blinked in surprise. "You, the young master of the Nangong family, actually want to eat cafeteria food?"
"I have Liu Muye to thank for that," Nangong Ye replied, lips curving into a faint smile. "He encouraged me to try new things, to step out of my comfort zone. I think he’s right."
Shangguan Yurou’s eyes widened, and she clapped a hand over her mouth.
Try… new things?
They… encouraged each other?
This is insane!
By the time Nangong Ye’s words reached her ears, they’d taken on a whole new meaning.
At that moment, Shangguan Yurou became even more convinced—Nangong Ye was into Liu Muye. And for some reason, her chest suddenly felt hollow.
"Shangguan? Shangguan?"
Nangong Ye’s voice snapped her back to reality.
"So… can you swipe your card for me?" he asked.
"Y-yeah," Shangguan Yurou replied distractedly. "Let’s go to the cafeteria."
"Great."
Nangong Ye nodded, pleased. If Shangguan Yurou agreed to buy him food, that meant she was willing to eat with him—and eating together was a step closer to deepening their relationship.
The thought made him happy, though he kept his expression carefully neutral.
Truthfully, Nangong Ye had developed feelings for Shangguan Yurou back in the infirmary. Since then, he’d found himself paying more attention to her.
The more he noticed, the more he admired her.
He liked her. More and more.
...
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
